Valve structure



July 20, 1943,. E. s. MINARD 2,324,793

VALVE STRUCTURE -Filed Aug. 261940 V2 snags-sheet 1 3 MM Il@ 2 Mm wmv@ n Q MT1, f m li Vi. wl@ t 1HE @wwwa z /m .n 2 +4 "".san`d H 7/ F. 0. a 5. 4 ,n 5

July 20, 1942. E. s. Mmm '2,324,793

VALVE STRUCTURE.

Filed Aug. 2e, 19'40 2 sheets-sheet 2 `INVENTOR. EVERETT $.MINARD Patented July 20, 1943 VALVE s'rRUo'rUm:`

Application August 26, 1940, Serial No. 354,199

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in a valve structure, and has particular reference to a valve operated by a receptacle to be lled.

More particularly, the Valve is intended for use in connection with a filling machine, the valve being secured to the bottom of a tank containing a liquid,` to be opened by the pressure of a receptacle which is moved upward agaimt the valve bysuitable mechanism and to automatically close when the lled receptacle is withdrawn.

The present valve structure is an improvement over the valve shown and described in my Patent No. 2,197,368, dated April 16, 1940. It offers several advantages over my previous device which may be generally described as follows:

A valve structure of the character described involves a movable element operated by the receptacle for opening the valve. This movable element includes a sealing medium for the receptacle. After the latter is filled, it is necessary,

for the withdrawal of the same, to break its contact with the sealing medium. As soon as the withdrawal movement is initiated, a vacuum develops in the top of the receptacle, which causes the latter to adhere to the Sealing medium so as to render the withdrawal diflicult.

In the present invention itis proposed to overcome this difliculty by providing a special sealing medium, which, although forming a liquid-tight closure for the receptacle, provides one or more pin holes allowing air to enter for preventing a Yvacuum from being formed.

It is further proposed to reorganize the valve structure by providing a new Valve head, with appropriate changes While the previous structure involved a vent for the receptacle, which was always open to the atmosphere, the new structure makes provision for a vent which is only open during filling operations.

It is further proposed in the present invention to provide positive means for overcoming any tendency of two coacting valve elements to ad-` here to one another when one is operated by the receptacle.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear as the specification proceeds, and the novel features thereof will be fully set forth in the claims hereto appended.

The preferred form of my invention is illusin the coacting elements.

Figure 6, a side elevation thereof; and

Figure 7, a, side elevation o f the sealing element as applied to a milk bottle, the side elevation being taken at right angles to that of Figure 6.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention I Wish to have it understood that various changes or modifications may be made within the scope of the claims hereto attached without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, my valve structure comprises a sleeve I terminating at its upper end in an enlarged threaded portion 2 and a ange 3 adapted to rest upon the bottom of a tank indicated at 4, while a nut 5 is screwed upon the threaded portion from below and against the lower face of the bottom of the tank for securely holding the sleeve in place.

The top of the flange 3 is substantially in alinement with the upper face of the tank bottom and has a superstructure 6 supporting a central hub 'I in alinement with the sleeve.

A vent tube 9 is supported by the hub 'I and extends downwardly through the sleeve I in concentric relation thereto. It is provided, at its bottom end, with a cylindricalvalve head III. The latter is disposed below the bottom end of the sleeve i and provides a laterally-opening port for the tube, as indicated at I l, and an oppositelyopening port, as indicated at I2, outside the tube.

The port I2 is formed by cutting through the cylinder along a diagonal line, indicated at I3, leaving however, a central web I4 to give proper bearing surface to the valve head.

The tube 9 extends with its upper end above the liquid level in the tank and is suspended from tne hub 'I by means of a pair of trunnions I4 resting in notches l5 in the upper edge of the hub. Two key-ways are provided at right angles to the notches` I5 and are dimensioned to allow the trunnions I4 to pass therethrough for'insertion and removal of the tube from below. A positive stop, in the form of a collar I'I, prevents the tube from rising any higher than is necessary for the positioning of the trunnions.

A second sleeve I8 is slidable on the sleeve I and is formed, at its lower end, with a flange I9 and a reduced extension 20 having a sliding t on the cylindrical valve head lll. A spring 2| bearing on the enlarged upper end of sleeve I and flange I9 of sleeve I8 urges the latter downwardly so as to cause therextension 20 to normally cover the valve head I0 for closing the ports of the same, the downward movement being limited by a flange 22 at the bottom end of the valve head.

The second sleeve I8 is operated for uncovering `the valve head by the receptacle `to 'be filled, like the milk bottle indicated at 23, which is lifted to overcome the pressure of the spring 2l by any suitable mechanism, not shown.

'I'o effect a seal between the open end o the bottle and the sleeve I8, I provide a sealing element 24, which is preferably made in the form of a rubber disc, perforated to t upon the eX- tension 20 and to `bear against the lower face of the flange IQ.

The rim of the sealing element is made to project laterally beyond the outline of the container and is formed with a bead 25 to divert any drippings that may develop on the outer face of the sleeve I8.

The bottom face of the disc is preferably curved, as shown in the drawing, to provide gradually increasing thickness toward the center, and this portion of the sealing element is intended for engagement by the container, as shown in Figures 2 and 7, the exact point of engagement depending upon the size of the container opening.

The curved bottom portion of the sealing element is formed with one or more transverse or radial ridges 28 which increase in width and thickness from their inner to their outer` ends, and are made to form a sharp angle with the body of the sealing element.

The'object of these ridges or ribs 2S is to serve as vacuum breakers. When the container 23 is forced upwardly against the sealing element 24, as in Figure 2, it compresses the ribs 2S at the points of contact, but in doing so, it causes the ribs to form small pin holes along the edges thereof, not sufficiently large to form a liquid passage, but still large enough to allow air to enter therethrough when the bottle is withdrawn for preventing a vacuum from being created at the beginning of the Withdrawal movement.

This action is due to the steepness of the walls of the ridge, which depresses the material immediately adjacent the ridge and partly folds over the depression as the container is forced against the sealing element. It should not be confused with the action of an undulating surface or a surface slightly uneven, in which case the material at the highest places is merely subjected to greater pressure but does not form any pin holes with the lower spots.

The present valve, like the patented valve, is intended for rapid assembling and disassembling. The sleeve i with its superstructure forms a permanent part of the tank botto-m. For assembling the remainder, the sleeve i8 is passed over the tube until its bottom end comes to rest on the flange 22, and the spring is seated upon the outside of the sleeve. This assembly is then introduced from below, the tube 9 on the inside and the sleeve E8 on the outside of sleeve l, with the trunnions i4 positioned to pass throughthe keyways i6 until the collar il strikes the bottom of the superstructure, whereupon the tube is turned through a quarter of a turn for the trunnions to drop into the notes l5. This completes the assembly. The collar or stop Il thus serves as a convenient gage in positioning the trunnions.

For removal of the assembled parts, it is merely necessary to raise the tube from below until the trunnions clear the notches l and to turn the tube through a quarter of a turn to cause the trunnions to register with the key-ways I6, whereupon the tube, the sleeve i8 and the spring automatically drop downwardly.

` In use, the parts normally occupy the position of Figure l. the extension 26 of sleeve I8 closing both ports of the valve head. As the sleeve I8 is raised by the bottle 23, both ports are opened, and liquid enters the bottles through the port I2, while the air escapes through port Il, and the tube 9.

When the bottle has been lled, it is withdrawn the peculiar shape of the ribs 26 allowing air to enter and to prevent the creation of a Vacuum incidental to the withdrawal movement, and the extension 29 descends upon the valve head, closing both of the ports thereof.

If any tendency should develop, due to adhesion, for the valve head to rise with the sleeve I8 when the latter is raised by the bottles, such adhesion will be broken almost immediately by the collar l1 striking the bottom of the hub 1.

I claim:

l. In a valve structure, a sleeve, means for vertically mounting the same, a hub, means for supporting the hub above the sleeve and in alinement therewith, the hub having a longitudinal key way therein and having a notch arranged in its upper face and spaced from the key way, a tube having a valve head at one end, a trunnion disposed on an intermediate section of the tube and adapted to pass through the key way when the tube is passed through the sleeve and the hub from below and to seat; in the notch when the tube is turned, a stop on the tube below the trunnion and spaced from the latter to serve as a gage for arresting the advance of the tube when the trunnion has reached a position to just clear the upper end of the hub for the turning movement, and a valve member slidable on the sleeve for cooperation with the valve head.

2. In a valve structure of the character described, a Valve element comprising an elongated tube, an enlarged cylindrical head concentrically mounted on o-ne end of the tube and having a closed end, the head having a lateral discharge port communicating with the tube and having a second discharge port disposed outside the tube, a pair of trunnions projecting laterally from the tube at an intermediate portion thereof whereby the tube may be suspended, and a stop on the tube arranged below the trunnions and in spaced relation thereto to serve as a gauge in positionin the trunnion.

3. In a valve structure of the character described, a sealing element comprising a disc of elastic material having a central aperture and a convex face adapted for engagement by a receptacle for sealing the latter and having a transverse rib projecting abruptly from the receptacleengaging face the rib being sufficiently steep to depress adjacent material and to fold over the depression so as to leave a pin hole between the sealing element and the receptacle when the sealing element is compressed by the receptacle.

4. In a valve structure of the character described, a sealing element comprising a disc of elastic material having a central aperture and -a convex face adapted for engagement by the receptacle for sealing the latter, the receptacle engaging face being curved spherically to provide gradually increasing thickness of the sealing element toward the aperture and having a transverse rib projecting abruptly therefrom and the rib being sufciently steep to depress adjacent material and to fold over the depression so as to leave a pin hole between the sealing element and the receptacle when the sealing element; is compressed by the receptacle.

- EVERETT S. MINARD. 

